After consideration, Seimas approved new amendments to the Statute regulating remote work of the Parliament

Press release, 8 December 2020

 

 

After consideration, the Seimas approved amendments to the Statute concerning remote work options. Draft statutory amendment No XIVP-63(2) allows holding remote sittings of the Seimas in exceptional cases, such as a state of emergency, emergency situation, or application of quarantine restrictions. However, remote sittings may only be held pursuant to a reasoned decision of the Board of the Seimas when work of the Seimas is endangered, as Members of the Seimas may not convene for a Seimas sitting in the buildings of the Seimas due to obvious objective circumstances or in order to limit the spread of communicable disease.

 

It is envisaged that hosting Seimas sittings, participation of MPs and decision-making on matters under consideration will take place remotely in real time over secure teleconferencing platforms tested and recognized as such by the National Cyber Security Centre. MPs will have to personally exercise their rights and duties of Members of the Seimas on matters considered at remote sittings of the Seimas.

 

The use of information technologies at a remote sitting should ensure the following conditions are met:

1) identity of the participating MPs is determined by means established in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014;

2) sittings are recorded;

3) sittings are streamed live in video and audio format via the Seimas website, recorded and archived;

4) for voting, MPs are additionally identified through registration and immediate photo identification at the moment of voting, which allows to ascertain that the MPs have voted in person and the voting clearly expresses their genuine will; for voting on legislation and other regulations of the Seimas, additional identification procedure under the rules established in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 will apply.

 

It is envisaged that the President of the Republic, his authorised representatives, members of the Government, Prosecutor General, Auditor General, Chairman of the Bank of Lithuania, and other stakeholders attending a sitting of the Seimas, as well as persons invited to the sitting, should be ensured access to the remote sitting through secure electronic means.

 

The provisions regulating remote work of the Seimas will not apply to the following sittings: closed sittings; the first sitting of a newly elected Seimas; a sitting where an oath of office is administered to the President elect of the Republic of Lithuania, Prime Minister, members of the Government (ministers), judges of the Constitutional Court, judges of the Supreme Court, Auditor General, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, and other state officials appointed by the Seimas.  

 

Under the proposal, sittings of the following bodies may not be held at a distance: closed sittings of the Board of the Seimas, as well as closed meetings of any Seimas committee, commission, or subcommittee; closed committee hearings, especially meetings and hearings involving the consideration of classified information regulated under the Law on State Secrets and Official Secrets; voting by secret ballot in cases provided for by the Statute; and sittings involving voting on a law amending the Constitution or a draft constitutional law.

 

After consideration at the Seimas, the draft was approved by 125 votes in favour, with two votes against and two abstentions.

 

Saulė Eglė Trembo, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, Office of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6203,  e-mail: [email protected]